Avery Ann Hart (D), candidate for state Senate in District 26

Oct. 30, 2013

Written by

Written by

Avery Ann Hart

1. What professional and/or personal experience do you feel is most relevant to the position you are seeking?

My education and experience as a psychotherapist and family counselor has given me unique insight into human beings, their challenges, stressors and needs. When you sit with clients during their struggle for the truth of their lives, and help guide them to find their own solutions to their unique problems, you take on a depth and perspective that many occupations don't offer. It is one that I believe is valuable on the public level, a hand in glove fit for making policy. My experience has strengthened my ability to have insight on how policies work in real life, and how to improve legislation to accommodate the people. I am also the founder of Kinnelon Conserves where we created business opportunities for green businesses. We have a directory of over 200 businesses that have benefited from exposure from our events, and have successfully promoted these enterprises for seven years. This model can be developed in other sectors. As a member of the State Board of Nursing, I also have unique insight into NJ's health and medical systems. I know the challenges these systems face, such as needing stronger oversight on education programs to properly train our future nurses and other health professionals. New Jersey currently has a huge shortage of nurse educators, which means that 60% of qualified nursing students cannot be educated here in state. If elected I intend focus my energy on solving this problem and keeping nurses in New Jersey.

2. If you are an incumbent, of what achievements are you most proud during your time in office? If you are a challenger, why have you chosen to run?

I chose to run because my opponent has not introduced legislation to cope with the current problems within our district and throughout New Jersey. We have a crying need for jobs with livable wages in our state. If elected, the first bill I will put out in the legislature is to create new jobs. After the loss of thousands of jobs from large companies leaving NJ - Merck, Roche, Honeywell, and Lucent and others - the business climate has not changed. I plan on offering innovative solutions to reverse this trend. Empty corporate buildings that yield no revenue are a drag on our state, I prefer to have businesses flourishing and collecting tax revenue rather than having empty corporate buildings that yield no revenue. Therefore I will seek to initiate low-taxed pilot programs that keep businesses in state by offering 10 to 20 year contracts. Pilot programs work in other states and there is no reason that they won’t work here. Our state can also offer incentive programs to hire within our state. A third potential solution comes in the form of business incubators, which are themselves businesses that encourage cross-fertilization of enterprise. Lastly, we need to the development of environmentally sound businesses, such as solar and wind.

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3. Please identify the one or two issues you see as most important in this race and summarize your goals in relation to these issues.

Two issues I see most important in this race are NJ job creation ( I elaborate on this in Question 2) and property tax relief. On the campaign trail, many people expressed that our current senator has done little to nothing to improve these issues, As for NJ property taxes, the situation can and must change as property taxes now are a kind of second mortgage that few can comfortably bear. Another key issue is environmental protection. Without clean water, land and air, our quality of life and our economy will be lost. As for tax sanity, it's time to reform NJ's approach to school funding and take it off the homeowner's back. Many other states run their school systems by counties and we should, too. Now we pay for nearly 600 superintendents and their staffs in our state, which has only 2500 schools! A county system will require 21 school superintendents. In a county system, every school will still have a principal, but hundreds of millions of dollars will be freed up. Lastly, the urgent environmental issue facing our district is avoiding aquifer contamination. My opponent who is supported by the plastics and construction industry is subverting the Highland’s Law to allow toxic artificial turf and new construction on sensitive watershed land. The New Jersey Environmental Federation rates Pennacchio with an F scoring an 18%. This trend is consistent with all other environmental groups. The result of water contamination would be to install a water treatment facility costing tax payers hundreds of millions of dollars. A safer alternative to bring businesses to our area is to take over empty buildings and have businesses flourish there than contaminate our watershed. My goal as a legislator will be to provide a prosperous future, by promoting job growth, reforming our taxes, and assuring that future generations will inherit a clean and livable state.

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4. What do you see as the biggest difference voters should consider between yourself and your opponent(s)?

The biggest difference between my opponent and myself is that I practice what I preach. I understand what the people of NJ need. Right now the problems we face require legislators who are dedicated to the right priorities. I’m not sure what Pennacchio’s goals are as a senator, beyond having a rigid, regressive agenda that doesn’t match today’s world His record certainly shows a lack of initiative, innovation, and sincerity. For seven years my opponent has been talking a good game, but his record tells a different story. For instance, he voted against, S2211 Sca (1R) The "New Jobs for New Jersey Act," but never bothered to introduce a jobs bill of his own, or support another. Another example is Pennacchio claiming transparency as his supposed signature issue. Really? Then why vote down S1761- “Requires More Transparency and Accountability from Port Authority“? Or S927 “Requires State Auditor review of certain Department of Corrections Privatization Contracts.” Don’t the people of NJ deserve to know where all that toll and prison money is going? Pennacchio’s record is inconsistent with his platform. He does not understand what NJ families really need to be prosperous, healthy and free. I have a record of achievement in a few different areas, and am a caring citizen in my community. As creator of Kinnelon Conserves I have stood up for a healthy environment, promoted green jobs, and have a healthy dialogue with elected officials from all across the aisle. I don’t discriminate by party. I intend on working with people who have the same priorities for our communities. The difference is that I am willing to work with Republican, Independent and Democratic elected officials if they are doing the right thing for our state. To me, the difference between him and I is that he is phoning in his job as senator, while I have the right vision and goals for our state, and will work hard to bring them to reality: Right now that means job creation, tax reform, and opportunities for our residents to prosper.